Kelowna

Ribbon honours fallen Mountie

Mounties in Kelowna and around the country are wearing a special 'Mourning Ribbon' in honour of fallen commrade Cst. Adrian Oliver.

The Surrey RCMP officer was killed in a traffic accident early Tuesday morning in Surrey.

Photo: Wayne Moore - Castanet

Oliver, 28, was driving an unmarked police cruiser when he collided with a transport truck.

Kelowna RCMP Cst. Kris Clark says members of the force will wear the special ribbon until Oliver's funeral.

The flag at the detachment will also fly at half staff until the funeral.

"Traffic collisions I think are the leading cause of police officer death in Canada. It's thankfully few and far between."

"More often than not we are seeing collisions take the life of our members. We are on the road all the time and, even if our driving is immaculate, something else can go wrong."

Clark says it's a huge tragedy that has affected, not only his immediate family, but also his 26,000 member RCMP and police force family across the country.

RCMP members from Kelowna will be in attendance at Oliver's funeral service.

The following officers stationed in the Okanagan have died while on duty since 1960:

April 14, 1965 - Constable Neil Bruce was mortally wounded while attempting to rescue a young woman who had been assaulted and held captive in a remote cabin above Westbank. Constables Bruce and Ken Jones approached the suspect, when Bruce was shot. The suspect then escaped arrest. Constable Bruce died in Kelowna General Hospital on April 14, at the age of 26.

November 13, 2004 - Auxiliary Cst. Glen Evely died as a result of a motor vehicle accident while patrolling in the area of a suspected stolen vehicle and high speed pursuit in Vernon.

June 3, 2005 - Cst. Joseph Minguy died while testing an inland water transport on Okanagan Lake